Note: This story contains spoilers of season 6 of “The Handmaid’s Tale”, episode 9.
The showrunners of “The Handmaid’s Tale” Eric Tuchman and Yahlin Chang unpacked the tragic, heartbreaking but “noble” death of Commander Nick Blaine (Max Minghella) and Commander Joseph Lawrence (Bradley Whitford).
“It was like the end of his story,” Tuchman told Nick’s decision. “He was a guy who was trying to ride two worlds, and he finally had to make a decision, and we gave him this pivot. out.’ He could have done that, but he didn’t do that.
Phew … Episode 9, entitled “Execution”, was anything but easy to look at. Between June, Osborne (Elisabeth Moss) is almost killed in our torn hearts by slowly looking at the two Gilead officials moving in their death.
For those who have not watched the episode or who simply need a reminder, the end of all the characters begins with June and the American representative Mark Tella asking for the help of Commander Lawrence. After June, learned that the remaining group of commanders was flying for Washington, DC after the massive rebellion of Mayday -Handmaid, the pair needed Lawrence – a commanding colleague – to deposit a bomb on his plane and escape before anyone noticed. Lawrence reluctantly accepted and June labeled moral support.
While heading for the plane to execute the plan, things got worse: all the commanders arrived early, which forced Lawrence to literally make a decision of life or death. Again, with a lot of hesitation and a sad, deep and dismal sigh of sadness, Lawrence chose to get on the plane, where he would soon reach his disappearance.
But wait, there is more! Just when we had accepted Lawrence’s fate, an all black SUV stopped. The driver opens the door of the rear car to let Nick escape, who also joins the commanders during their trip. Although he too has a doubt in his decision when he enters the plane, the fans learn at the moment that Nick has chosen to give Gilead his loyalty.
“It seemed like we needed this character to finally make the choice; it was time to stop walking on the rope,” said Tuchman. He added that the writers had presented Lawrence’s death to Whitford in early 2023.
“We already understood what we wanted to do with Commander Lawrence, and we went to lunch with Bradley and told him what we thought. Not knowing how he was going to react,” said Tuchman. “Fortunately, he kissed the idea. I think there was really triggered. It looked like an honest end and a noble end for this character.”
“He loved it and was relieved,” said Chang. “He was so happy because he was worried about him. He was worried about where we could take Lawrence, and he was afraid that Lawrence turned out to be worse. He therefore liked that there was a moment of redemption for him.”
The end of the episode ends with June Osborne, looking at the sky while the plane bursts into flames of the explosion of the bomb while tears fill their eyes.
The final of the series “The Handmaid’s Tale” will be presented on Tuesday May 27 on Hulu.
